So the other night I’m out with my wife and another couple, and I’m outnumbered three theater types to one scientist. Most of the time I don’t even know what they’re talking about, but I have seen “Cabaret”. That show kind of bored me. Really, I thought the best tune, you know, the one tune in the show that’s supposed to lodge in your head, was the first one, that “Willkommen, Bienvenu, Welcome” thing.
So, going into knows-not-what-the-hell-he-speaketh theater critic mode, I say something like “I thought the show kinda blew its wad with the first number, and dragged after that.” I get dumbfounded stares. After some giggling I’m told I’ve used a porn phrase. Now, I know about the “other” meaning of “blowing your wad”, but I thought there was a rated G definition, which meant, you know, spending all your capitol in one go and having nothing left for later. I figured it came from the idea of having a wad of cash and, well, blowing it, spending it all at once and frivolously. Am I wrong about this?
I think there is a distinction due to the possessive. If I go to the racetrack and blow A wad, my wife barely flinches. If my horse comes in and I blow MY wad, she gives me a dirty look.
I admit to having been pretty taken aback a couple of times when men have used this phrase (I think usually saying “shot my wad”) in some clearly g-rated business conversations.
I knew they were speaking metaphorically, and just tried to get past any type of image.
“That word, it does not mean what you think it means.”
Choosing between the two definitions provided by Squink, your usage there is a lot closer to the first, more naughty one. You’re essentially replacing the word “climaxed” with that phrase. If it was clear you meant that they “spent all their money” on that first scene, you probably could have gotten away with it.
D
I had the exact same thing happen to me years ago when I was in grad school. I’m female, and I was a mechanical engineering major. Having been surrounded by guys for several years during my studies, I started to pick up some of their figures of speech.
During a staff meeting where we were planning out the programming for a public education seminar we were giving, one of my co-workers had proposed including sub-topics for essentially every program we were currently offering. I was concerned that if we did that, we wouldn’t have any new material at our next seminar. I said “Yes, but if we do that, won’t we be pretty much shooting our wad at our first seminar?”
There was dead silence, with wide open eyes staring at me from all directions, which was broken by the nervous tittering of the co-worker who had brought it up. (Did I mention that she was a Methodist bishop’s wife?)
And that was the first time I ever stopped to wonder about the etymology of the phrase “shooting one’s wad.” (Hey, I was still a virgin at the time. I think that was what really prompted the shocked looks from all sides — “Our innocent young lady using a pornographic phrase?”)
This is a wierd one, and I have heard a lot of different phrasings that make it a little cleaner:
“Blew through the wad”
“Shot his bolt” (which I believe is a crossbow metaphor; once you’ve fired it, you aren’t reloading in time to stop the nasty guy from hacking you up, so if you didn’t make the shot good, you are done for)
“Fired the Surgeon General” or “Gave the Surgeon General a dishonorable discharge”; okay, I guess I went to far when I said that one in my last board meeting.
Now, if somebody say “shot his wad” or “shot his load”, I’d figure they were talking about…y’know. To “shoot” something and to “blow” something are not, in my mind, the same thing in every instance.
I’ve never heard “shot his bolt”. I have to say, I’d be scratching my head over that one, because the crossbow reference would never have occurred to me. I like it, though!
Now, on “wad”: It does refer to a wad of cash, right? A big roll of bills? I mean, was the original meaning that or, er, spunk?
Yes, to “shoot” is much more specific than “blow”. “Blow” can mean “waste”, which is definitely something that can be done to money, but it still can mean “explode”, which is definitely something you do when… er… let’s move on.
Yes, when you specifically mean money, a “wad” is a stack of cash. To say “that guy was carrying a large wad around the pool hall” would mean the guy was brandishing a lot of money. That same guy could “blow” that money by losing a few games.
However, a “wad” can also describe something that is explosively expelled (lending itself to both “shoot” and “blow”) when… er… well, you know.
D
Perhaps there’s regional, or subcultural variations in people’s perceptions. I hear “shot his wad,” or, more commonly “shot their wad” in business conversations often, and it is never perceived to mean anything other than they spent what they had to spend. I also hear that company X “has a hard-on” for company Y and nobody is in doubt that it means anything other than that company X has had stormy dealings with company Y and will likely not cooperate with them.
You’re kidding, right? “Has a hard-on for” means to “be in a conflict with”? Good gawd, if I heard that at work I’d A) spit my coffee out, and then B) figure company Y was really keen on, ehhh, a “merger” with company X.
Then again, “boner” can mean a mistake. One of my friends’ dad said that once while playing whiffle-ball…I miss the ball and accidently send the bat flying, and he says “Oh, what a boner!” I almost peed my pants.
Sorry, but I’m used to “wad” being a fat lump of cash and “blowing your wad” means going through all your cash. Since I don’t watch pr0n I’ve never heard the term used any other way.
Aside from the sexual meaning, I had always thought that the phrase had something to do with old cannons or muskets – where you had to put in gunpower, wadding, your projectile, and more wadding. I’m not exactly sure how one can blow or shoot the wadding without shooting the projectile, but it sounds like a good enough story to explain that it is a phrase that can be used in nice company.
No, I’m not kidding. And I’ve heard both professional men and women use both phrases. The board’s quite the cultural crossroads, isn’t it?
I remember a thread several years ago that revealed quite divergent understandings of “skanky.” And another regarding “shag” (where I grew up it was used to mean to retrieve balls sent off into the weeds during athletic practice, hence the quite innocent “shag balls”).
[QUOTE=Loopydude]
So the other night I’m out with my wife and another couple, and I’m outnumbered three theater types to one scientist.
So, going into knows-not-what-the-hell-he-speaketh theater critic mode, I say something like “I thought the show kinda blew its wad with the first number, and dragged after that.” I get dumbfounded stares. After some giggling I’m told I’ve used a porn phrase.
Good God what would happen if you used the phrase it “Sucked”! (Sucks)(sux)
I think school teachers are using that one today, And unless I am stupid it only means 1 thing.
Ravenman comes very close to describing the etymology.
Muzzle loaded weapons first receive a powder charge, then sometimes a wadding or wad, and finally the projectile, wadding more common with black powder applications, IIRC.
A search for wad reveals:wad - 1540, “soft material for padding or stuffing,” of uncertain origin, perhaps connected to M.L. wadda, Du. watten, or M.E. wadmal (1392) “woolen cloth,” from O.N. vaðmal “a woolen fabric of Scandinavia,” probably from vað “cloth” + mal “measure.” The meaning “bundle of currency” is Amer.Eng., 1778. The verb is first recorded 1579.
So, whether the projectile be weaponry, monetary, mental, or penile, taking aim at a target and discharging the appropriate ahem armament is said to be “shooting one’s wad.”
Incidentally, another possible origin I have heard is that in the heat of battle, one would often forget to accomplish every part of the drill necessary to fire a weapon (put in powder, put in wad, put in bullet, etc.). Because soldiers often forgot to put in the bullet, they would fire the gun and “shoot the wad”, basically meaning that they would fire it off harmlessly with no effect.
